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E. P. POLLBTT.

SHEET METAL CAN. No. 277,255. Patented May 8,1883.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD P. FOLLETT, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

SHEET-M ETAL CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,255, dated May 8, 1883.

Application filed April 11, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD P. FOLLE'IT, of Rochester, Monroe county, New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Metal Cans; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of the top of a can showing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the coiled strip by which the cover is secured to the can. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the strip with a portion broken out.

My improvement relates to devices for tearing loose the cover in opening the can. The devices now in common use for the purpose are wires which are embedded beneath the flange of the cover or in aseam at the top of the can; but they are objectionable, for the reason that when the wire is torn from place a rough and jagged edge is left, whiehis liable to injure the hand, and the cover cannot be replaced and used as a loose cover on top of the can. A device has also been used in which a bead oracutis made partially through the body of the flange of the cover, in order'to thin the same and cause the rupture to follow the bead or cutin tearing the cover from the can.

My invention consists of a thin strip of tin or other metal, first soldered to the inner surface of the flange of the cover and projecting downward below the cover, forming a secondary flange, and then soldered to the outside of the can at the lower edge of the strip, by which means, when the strip is torn off, it tears close up to the flange of the cover, leaving a smooth edge to the cover, and the cover can then be replaced and used as a loose cover to the can.

In the drawings, Ashows a can of ordinary form. B is the cover, also ,of ordinary form, having the usual short vertical flange, a. (.l is a thin strip of tin or other sheet metal, of such length as to be bent into a hoop or ring, as shown in Fig. 3, with a loose end, b, projecting therefrom, and of such width that when placed inside the flange of the cover its lower edge will project some little distance below the cover, forming a secondary flange, as shown in Figs.'l and 2. In this condition the strip is first soldered to the cover at the top, on the inside, and the lower edge is then soldered to the body of the can, on the outside, making a tight seal all the way around, but leaving the end b loose, as before described. This loose end forms part of the width of the flange, and is that part which projects below the flange of the cover. The ends of the strip, which meet to form the hoop, have small notches f f, Fig. 4, which interlock when brought together. The ends of the strip are then soldered together to hold them before the hoop is placed into the cover. The object of the notches is to lock the ends of the strip together, so that if, in the act of soldering the strip to the cover, the soldering of the ends of the strip should melt, the strip would not separate and spring out of place.

To open the can, the loose end I) is seized and drawn endwise and upward, and the strip then tears away from around the can, the tear following the flange a of the cover, leaving a smooth edge and leaving the cover free, so that it can be replaced and used loosely, and,

in fact, the edge of the cover is made stiffer and more substantial by reason of the re-enforced flange. In these respects the device is much more effective than wires inserted under the cover or in the top of the can.

Having thus described my invention, I disclaim a can having a head or a cut in the flange of the coverfor the purpose of directing the rupture in tearing the cover from the can.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a sheet-metal can, the combination, with the cover, having a flange which projects downward and rests over the end of the can, of a strip forming a secondary flange, resting inside the flange of the cover, soldered at its upper edge to the cover and projecting below the exterior flange, being soldered to the exterior of the can, and provided with a projecting end, which forms a fingerhold, as shown and described, and for the purpose specified.

2. The strip 0, constructed with the interlocking notches ff at its ends, and the projecting end I), of less width than the body of the strip, as herein shown and described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD P. FOLLETT. Witnesses:

R. F. ()seoon, Z. L. DAvIs. 

